Wireless communications device with global positioning based on received motion data and method for use therewith

ABSTRACT

A circuit includes a global positioning system (GPS) receiver that receives a GPS signal and that generates GPS position data based on the GPS signal. A wireless receiver converts an inbound RF signal into an inbound symbol stream. A processing module converts the inbound symbol stream into inbound data that includes a motion parameter and generates position information based on at least one of the GPS position data and the motion parameter.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to mobile communication devices, GPSreceivers and more particularly to RF integrated circuit for usetherein.

2. Description of Related Art

Communication systems are known to support wireless and wire linedcommunications between wireless and/or wire lined communication devices.Such communication systems range from national and/or internationalcellular telephone systems to the Internet to point-to-point in-homewireless networks. Each type of communication system is constructed, andhence operates, in accordance with one or more communication standards.For instance, wireless communication systems may operate in accordancewith one or more standards including, but not limited to, IEEE 802.11,Bluetooth, advanced mobile phone services (AMPS), digital AMPS, globalsystem for mobile communications (GSM), code division multiple access(CDMA), local multi-point distribution systems (LMDS),multi-channel-multi-point distribution systems (MMDS), radio frequencyidentification (RFID), Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE),General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), and/or variations thereof.

Depending on the type of wireless communication system, a wirelesscommunication device, such as a cellular telephone, two-way radio,personal digital assistant (PDA), personal computer (PC), laptopcomputer, home entertainment equipment, RFID reader, RFID tag, et ceteracommunicates directly or indirectly with other wireless communicationdevices. For direct communications (also known as point-to-pointcommunications), the participating wireless communication devices tunetheir receivers and transmitters to the same channel or channels (e.g.,one of the plurality of radio frequency (RF) carriers of the wirelesscommunication system or a particular RF frequency for some systems) andcommunicate over that channel(s). For indirect wireless communications,each wireless communication device communicates directly with anassociated base station (e.g., for cellular services) and/or anassociated access point (e.g., for an in-home or in-building wirelessnetwork) via an assigned channel. To complete a communication connectionbetween the wireless communication devices, the associated base stationsand/or associated access points communicate with each other directly,via a system controller, via the public switch telephone network, viathe Internet, and/or via some other wide area network.

For each wireless communication device to participate in wirelesscommunications, it includes a built-in radio transceiver (i.e., receiverand transmitter) or is coupled to an associated radio transceiver (e.g.,a station for in-home and/or in-building wireless communicationnetworks, RF modem, etc.). As is known, the receiver is coupled to anantenna and includes a low noise amplifier, one or more intermediatefrequency stages, a filtering stage, and a data recovery stage. The lownoise amplifier receives inbound RF signals via the antenna andamplifies then. The one or more intermediate frequency stages mix theamplified RF signals with one or more local oscillations to convert theamplified RF signal into baseband signals or intermediate frequency (IF)signals. The filtering stage filters the baseband signals or the IFsignals to attenuate unwanted out of band signals to produce filteredsignals. The data recovery stage recovers raw data from the filteredsignals in accordance with the particular wireless communicationstandard.

As is also known, the transmitter includes a data modulation stage, oneor more intermediate frequency stages, and a power amplifier. The datamodulation stage converts raw data into baseband signals in accordancewith a particular wireless communication standard. The one or moreintermediate frequency stages mix the baseband signals with one or morelocal oscillations to produce RF signals. The power amplifier amplifiesthe RF signals prior to transmission via an antenna.

While transmitters generally include a data modulation stage, one ormore IF stages, and a power amplifier, the particular implementation ofthese elements is dependent upon the data modulation scheme of thestandard being supported by the transceiver. For example, if thebaseband modulation scheme is Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying (GMSK), thedata modulation stage functions to convert digital words into quadraturemodulation symbols, which have a constant amplitude and varying phases.The IF stage includes a phase locked loop (PLL) that generates anoscillation at a desired RF frequency, which is modulated based on thevarying phases produced by the data modulation stage. The phasemodulated RF signal is then amplified by the power amplifier inaccordance with a transmit power level setting to produce a phasemodulated RF signal.

As another example, if the data modulation scheme is 8-PSK (phase shiftkeying), the data modulation stage functions to convert digital wordsinto symbols having varying amplitudes and varying phases. The IF stageincludes a phase locked loop (PLL) that generates an oscillation at adesired RF frequency, which is modulated based on the varying phasesproduced by the data modulation stage. The phase modulated RF signal isthen amplified by the power amplifier in accordance with the varyingamplitudes to produce a phase and amplitude modulated RF signal.

As yet another example, if the data modulation scheme is x-QAM (16, 64,128, 256 quadrature amplitude modulation), the data modulation stagefunctions to convert digital words into Cartesian coordinate symbols(e.g., having an in-phase signal component and a quadrature signalcomponent). The IF stage includes mixers that mix the in-phase signalcomponent with an in-phase local oscillation and mix the quadraturesignal component with a quadrature local oscillation to produce twomixed signals. The mixed signals are summed together and filtered toproduce an RF signal that is subsequently amplified by a poweramplifier.

As is also known, hand held global positioning system (GPS) receiversare becoming popular. In general, GPS receivers includereceiver-processors, and a highly-stable clock, and an antenna that istuned to the frequencies transmitted by the satellites. The receiver mayalso include a display for providing location and speed information tothe user. Many GPS receivers can relay position data to a PC or otherdevice using a US-based National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA)protocol.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to apparatus and methods of operationthat are further described in the following Brief Description of theDrawings, the Detailed Description of the Invention, and the claims.Other features and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following detailed description of the invention madewith reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a communicationsystem in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of anothercommunication system in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 3 presents a pictorial representation of a wireless network 111 inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 presents a pictorial representation of a wireless network 109 inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 presents a pictorial representation of a communication device incommunication with a vehicle in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 6 presents a graphical representation of a motion vector 303generated by a vehicle in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a vehicle inaccordance with the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a communicationdevice 10 in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 30 inaccordance with another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 30′ inaccordance with another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a schematic block diagram of a GPS receiver 210 used togenerate position in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 12 is a graphical representation of position information determinedin accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a schematic block diagram of a GPS receiver 210 used togenerate position in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 14 is a graphical representation of position information determinedin accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a schematic block diagram of a GPS receiver 210 used togenerate position and velocity information in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a graphical representation of position information determinedin accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a schematic block diagram of a GPS receiver 210 used togenerate position and velocity information in accordance with anotherembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of RF transceiver135 and GPS receiver 187 in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of RF transceiver135′ and with dual mode receiver 137′ in accordance with the presentinvention.

FIG. 20 is a flow chart of an embodiment of a method in accordance withthe present invention.

FIG. 21 is a flow chart of an embodiment of a method in accordance withthe present invention.

FIG. 22 is a flow chart of an embodiment of a method in accordance withthe present invention.

FIG. 23 is a flow chart of an embodiment of a method in accordance withthe present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a communicationsystem in accordance with the present invention. In particular acommunication system is shown that includes a communication device 10that communicates real-time data 24 and non-real-time data 26 wirelesslywith one or more other devices such as base station 18, non-real-timedevice 20, real-time device 22, and non-real-time and/or real-timedevice 24. In addition, communication device 10 can also optionallycommunicate over a wireline connection with non-real-time device 12,real-time device 14 and non-real-time and/or real-time device 16.

In an embodiment of the present invention the wireline connection 28 canbe a wired connection that operates in accordance with one or morestandard protocols, such as a universal serial bus (USB), Institute ofElectrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 488, IEEE 1394 (Firewire),Ethernet, small computer system interface (SCSI), serial or paralleladvanced technology attachment (SATA or PATA), or other wiredcommunication protocol, either standard or proprietary. The wirelessconnection can communicate in accordance with a wireless networkprotocol such as IEEE 802.11, Bluetooth, Ultra-Wideband (UWB), WIMAX, orother wireless network protocol, a wireless telephony data/voiceprotocol such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), GeneralPacket Radio Service (GPRS), Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution(EDGE), Personal Communication Services (PCS), or other mobile wirelessprotocol or other wireless communication protocol, either standard orproprietary. Further, the wireless communication path can includeseparate transmit and receive paths that use separate carrierfrequencies and/or separate frequency channels. Alternatively, a singlefrequency or frequency channel can be used to bi-directionallycommunicate data to and from the communication device 10.

Communication device 10 can be a mobile phone such as a cellulartelephone, a personal digital assistant, game console, game device,personal computer, laptop computer, or other device that performs one ormore functions that include communication of voice and/or data viawireline connection 28 and/or the wireless communication path. In anembodiment of the present invention, the real-time and non-real-timedevices 12, 14 16, 18, 20, 22 and 24 can be personal computers, laptops,PDAs, mobile phones, such as cellular telephones, devices equipped withwireless local area network or Bluetooth transceivers, FM tuners, TVtuners, digital cameras, digital camcorders, or other devices thateither produce, process or use audio, video signals or other data orcommunications.

In operation, the communication device includes one or more applicationsthat include voice communications such as standard telephonyapplications, voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) applications, localgaming, Internet gaming, email, instant messaging, multimedia messaging,web browsing, audio/video recording, audio/video playback, audio/videodownloading, playing of streaming audio/video, office applications suchas databases, spreadsheets, word processing, presentation creation andprocessing and other voice and data applications. In conjunction withthese applications, the real-time data 26 includes voice, audio, videoand multimedia applications including Internet gaming, etc. Thenon-real-time data 24 includes text messaging, email, web browsing, fileuploading and downloading, etc.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the communication device 10includes an integrated circuit, such as an RF integrated circuit thatincludes one or more features or functions of the present invention.Such integrated circuits shall be described in greater detail inassociation with the Figures that follow.

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of anothercommunication system in accordance with the present invention. Inparticular, FIG. 2 presents a communication system that includes manycommon elements of FIG. 1 that are referred to by common referencenumerals. Communication device 30 is similar to communication device 10and is capable of any of the applications, functions and featuresattributed to communication device 10, as discussed in conjunction withFIG. 1. However, communication device 30 includes one or more separatewireless transceivers for communicating, contemporaneously, via two ormore wireless communication protocols with data device 32 and/or database station 34 via RF data 40 and voice base station 36 and/or voicedevice 38 via RF voice signals 42.

FIG. 3 presents a pictorial representation of a wireless network 111 inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The wirelessnetwork 111 includes an access point 110 that is coupled to packetswitched backbone network 101. The access point 110 managescommunication flow over the wireless network 111 destined for andoriginating from each of communication devices 121, 123, 125 and 127.Via the access point 110, each of the communication devices 121, 123,125 and 127 can access service provider network 105 and Internet 103 to,for example, surf web-sites, download audio and/or video programming,send and receive messages such as text messages, voice message andmultimedia messages, access broadcast, stored or streaming audio, videoor other multimedia content, play games, send and receive telephonecalls, and perform any other activities, provided directly by accesspoint 110 or indirectly through packet switched backbone network 101.

One or more of the communication devices 121, 123, 125 and 127, such ascommunication device 125 is a mobile device that can include thefunctionality of communication devices 10 or 30. In particular,communication device 125 receives a motion parameter 99 from an externalsource based on motion of the device. The motion parameter can include aposition, velocity, velocity vector, acceleration (includingdeceleration) and/or other motion parameter. In addition, communicationdevice 125 includes a GPS receiver that generates GPS position dataand/or GPS velocity data. The RF IC processes the GPS position data andGPS velocity data and the optional motion parameter to produce motiondata 113, such as position information and velocity information thatidentifies the location, velocity, and or direction of motion of thecommunication device 125. The RF IC can use data from either the motionparameter 99 or the GPS position data or both to generate the motiondata 113. If for instance the GPS receiver is running and receiving astrong signal, GPS position and velocity data can be used to generatethe motion data 113. If however, the GPS receiver is starting up, haslost satellite reception, the device is transmitting or the GPS receiveris otherwise generating inaccurate data, the motion parameter 99, can beused to generate velocity information and can further be used togenerate position information from the last know position coordinatesand/or velocity.

The RF IC optionally generates outbound data that includes the motiondata 113 and/or a flag or other data that indicates communication device125 is a mobile device, generates an outbound RF signal from outbounddata and transmits the outbound RF signal to a remote station, such asthe access point 110.

In operation, access point 110 can change its own transmit and receivecharacteristics, based on the knowledge that communication device 125 ismobile, is in motion and/or based on information from a velocity vectoror other motion data 113 that indicates that the communication device125 is moving into closer range, is moving out of range, is moving closeto a known source of interference, is moving into or away from anobstructed path, etc. Examples of transmit and receive characteristicsinclude: transmit power levels; antenna configurations such asmulti-input multi-output (MIMO) configuration, beam patterns,polarization patterns, diversity configurations, etc. to adapt theorientation and/or position of the communication device; protocolparameters and other transmit and receive characteristics of the accesspoint.

In addition, access point 110 can generate control data 115 to transmitto the communication device 125 and/or the communication devices 121,123 and 127, to modify the transmit and receive characteristics of thesedevices. Further, in an embodiment of the present invention, accesspoint 110 can generate a request to receive periodic motion data fromthe communication device 125. Alternatively, communication device 125can generate and transmit motion data on a regular and/or periodic basisor in response to changes in motion data 113 that compare unfavorably(such as to exceed) a motion change threshold, such as to inform theaccess point 110 when the communication device 125 starts, stops,changes speed and/or direction, etc.

For example, when communication device 125 indicates to access point 110that it is a mobile device, access point 110 can request thatcommunication device 125 send periodic motion data. If the access point110 determines that the communication device 125 is moving out of range,it can increase its power level, and steer its antenna beam in thedirection of the mobile device 125 and command the mobile device 125 tomodify one or more if its transmit and/or receive parameters, toincrease its power level, steer its antenna beam at the access pointand/or to modify other antenna parameters to compensate for a possiblelowering of signal to noise ratio, etc.

Further access point 110 can operate to manage the transmit and receivecharacteristics by the adjustment of the protocol or protocols used incommunicating between the access point 110 and the client devices 121,123, 125 and 127 and power levels inherent in and associated therewith.In one mode of operation, access point 110 can selectively adjust one ormore protocol parameters, such as the packet length, data rate, forwarderror correction, error detection, coding scheme, data payload length,contention period, and back-off parameters used by access point 110 incommunication with one or more of the client devices 121, 123, 125 and127, based on the analysis of the motion data 113. In this fashion, theprotocol parameters can be adapted to compensate for the motion of oneor more communication devices, such as communication device 125, toconserve power, increase throughput, and/or to minimize unnecessarytransmission power utilization based on the conditions of the network.

For example, in the event that a communication device, such as clientdevice 125 is anticipated to have difficulty detecting transmissionsfrom communication device 123 because it is moving out of range, accesspoint 110 can modify the protocol parameters so that transmissions bycommunication device 125 include more aggressive error correcting codes,increased back-off times and/or smaller data payloads or packet lengthto increase the chances that a packet will be received in the event ofcontention by communication device 123. In addition, decreasing thepacket length can increase the frequency of acknowledgements transmittedby access point 110. These acknowledgements can be transmitted at apower level sufficient to be heard by communication device 123. Withincreased back-off times, communication device 123 has less opportunityto create a potential contention.

In a further mode of operation, access point 110 and communicationdevices 121, 123, 125 and 127 can operate using a plurality ofdifferent, and potentially complimentary, protocols having differentprotocol parameters. Access point 110 can likewise select a particularone of a plurality of protocols that suits the particular conditionspresent in the wireless network 111, as determined based on anassessment of motion data 113. For instance, an access point can selectfrom 802.11(n), 802.11(g) or 802.11(b) protocols having differentprotocol parameters, data rates, etc, based on the particular protocolbest suited to the current mobility status of communication devices 121,123, 125 and 127.

While the description above has focused on the control of transmit andreceive characteristics of communication devices 121, 123, 125 and 127based on control data 115 received from access point 110, in anembodiment of the present invention, each of these communication devicescan respond to its motion data generated based on GPS position dataand/or motion parameter 99, such as motion data 113, to control itstransmit and receive characteristics, without intervention from theaccess point. For example, if the communication device 125 determines itis moving out of range, it can increase its power level, and steer itsantenna beam in the direction of the access point 110 and/or modifyother protocol parameters to compensate for a possible lowering ofsignal to noise ratio, etc.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the communication devices121, 123, 125 and 127 adjust the manner in which position information isdetermined based on whether or not the wireless transceiver istransmitting. In particular, potential interference caused by thetransmission could corrupt the GPS data received during this period. Thepresent invention adjusts the determination of position informationduring transceiver transmissions to compensate for the potential loss orcorruption of current GPS position data by, for instance, de-weightingthe current GPS position data and relying instead on position data thatis estimated based on prior GPS position and/or velocity data or basedon motion parameter 99 received from an external device. Further detailsincluding several adjustment methods and implementations will bediscussed in conjunction with the Figures that follow.

FIG. 4 presents a pictorial representation of a wireless network 109 inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In particular,communication device 117 is a wireless telephone device or other devicethat operates that includes a wireless telephone transceiver and that iscapable of placing a receiving conventional wireless telephone callsvoice over internet protocol telephone calls, communicating via acellular voice or data protocol such as GSM, GPRS, AMPS, UMTS, EDGE orother wireless telephony protocol that can be used to communicate with aservice provider network 119, such as a wireless telephone or datanetwork, via base station or access point 118. In an embodiment of thepresent invention, communication device 117 includes a GPS receiver andgenerates position information that is used by communication device 117and/or service provider network 119 for location-based services, forplacing emergency calls such as 911 (e911) calls. In addition, theposition information can be used by communication device 110 foradjusting transmit, receive and antenna characteristics based on theposition or motion of communication device 117, either by itself orbased on information obtained from a base station/access point such asbase station or access point 118 in a similar fashion to communicationdevice 125 discussed in conjunction with FIG. 3.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the communication device 117operates in a similar fashion to communication device 125, and adjuststhe determination of position information during transceivertransmissions to compensate for the potential loss or corruption ofcurrent GPS position data by, for instance, de-weighting the current GPSposition data and relying instead on position data that is estimatedbased on prior GPS position and/or velocity data or based on motionparameter 99 received from an external device. Further details includingseveral adjustment methods and implementations will be discussed inconjunction with the Figures that follow.

FIG. 5 presents a pictorial representation of a communication device incommunication with a vehicle in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention. In particular, a communication device 10, 30, 117 or125 includes a GPS receiver and is used in conjunction with an externaldevice such as vehicles 300, 302, 304 or other device that generates itsown motion parameter 99 that can be associated with the motion of thecommunication device 10, 30, 117 or 125. For example, when communicationdevice 10, 30, 117 or 125 is traveling in the vehicle 300, 302, or 304,the motion of that vehicle can be a good approximation of the motion ofthe communication device itself. Motion parameter 99, that can representa position, velocity, acceleration, in two or three dimensions, can beused by communication device 10, 20, 117 or 125 to improve upon orreplace the GPS position data and/or velocity data.

In an embodiment, communication device 10, 30, 117 or 125 includes oneor more circuits that include a global positioning system (GPS) receiverthat receives a GPS signal and that generates GPS position data based onthe GPS signal. A wireless receiver section is coupled to convert aninbound RF signal into an inbound symbol stream. A processing modulecoupled to convert the inbound symbol stream into inbound data thatincludes a motion parameter 99 received from an external device such asautomobile 300, boat 302 or train 304 or other mobile external device.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the processing modulegenerates position information based on at least one of the GPS positiondata and the motion parameter. For instance, the GPS receiver cangenerate a GPS data quality and the processing module can generate theposition information based on the motion parameter and prior GPSposition data when the GPS data quality compares unfavorably to aquality threshold. Further, the processing module can generates theposition information based on the motion parameter and prior GPSposition data during a start-up condition of the GPS receiver. Inaddition, the communication device 10, 30, 117 and/or 125 can include awireless transmitter coupled to convert outbound data into an outboundsymbol stream and to generate an outbound RF signal from the outboundsymbol stream and the processing module can generate the positioninformation based on the motion parameter when the wireless transmitteris generating the outbound RF signal, potentially interfering with thereception of accurate GPS position data. Also, the processing module cangenerate the position information based on a weighted combination of theGPS position data and the motion parameter.

In an additional embodiment, the GPS receiver can operates in accordancewith a receiver parameter such as receiver sensitivity, and the GPSreceiver can adjusts the receiver parameter based on the motionparameter. For instance, when the GPS receiver is stationary, a trackingloop bandwidth can be reduced to improve the sensitivity of the GPSreceiver and generate more accurate GPS position data. Further, whenmoving as indicated by the motion parameter 99, the tracking loopbandwidth of the GPS receiver can be adjusted for best tracking andsensitivity of the GPS receiver, based on this motion. For example, theGPS receiver can adjust the receiver sensitivity to a first value whenthe motion parameter 99 compares favorably to a motion threshold andadjust the receiver sensitivity to a second value when the motionparameter 99 compares unfavorably to the motion threshold.

The motion parameter 99 can be received from the external device bymeans of a wireless receiver of communication device 10, 30, 117 or 125such as wireless personal area network receiver or transceiver thatoperates in accordance with a wireless personal area network protocol, awireless local area network receiver or transceiver that operates inaccordance with a wireless local area network protocol, or a wirelesswide area network receiver or transceiver that operates in accordancewith a wireless wide area network protocol, such as any of the receiversor transceivers discussed in conjunction with communication devices 10,30, 117 and/or 125.

FIG. 6 presents a graphical representation of a motion vector 303generated by a vehicle in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention. In particular a vehicle 200, 302 or 304 is shown in motionhaving a motion vector 303 in two or three dimensions. This motionvector includes a magnitude that represents the speed of the vehicle anda heading represented by the angle of the vector in two or threedimensions.

FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a vehicle inaccordance with the present invention. In particular, a vehicle 300, 302or 304 includes a motion parameter generation module 306 such as a GPSreceiver, a speedometer and compass, a gyroscope ormicroelectromechanical systems (MEMS) gyrator circuit such as apiezoelectric gyroscope, a vibrating wheel gyroscope, a tuning forkgyroscope, a hemispherical resonator gyroscope, or a rotating wheelgyroscope, or other position, velocity or acceleration determiningmodule that operates in one, two or three axes to generate motionparameter 308, such as motion parameter 99, in one, two or threedimensions. This data is transmitted by transmitter 310 as an RF signal312 as previously discussed.

FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of an integratedcircuit in accordance with the present invention. In particular, an RFintegrated circuit (IC) 50 is shown that implements communication device10, such as communication devices 121, 123, 125, 127 and/or 117 inconjunction with microphone 60, keypad/keyboard 58, memory 54, speaker62, display 56, camera 76, antenna interface 52 and wireline port 64. Inoperation, RF IC 50 includes a dual mode transceiver/GPS receiver 73having RF and baseband modules for receiving GPS signals 42 and furtherfor transmitting and receiving data RF real-time data 26 andnon-real-time data 24 via an antenna interface 52 and antenna such asfixed antenna a single-input single-output (SISO) antenna, a multi-inputmulti-output (MIMO) antenna, a diversity antenna system, an antennaarray or other antenna configuration that allows the beam shape, gain,polarization or other antenna parameters to be controlled. In addition,RF IC 50 includes input/output module 71 that includes the appropriateinterfaces, drivers, encoders and decoders for communicating via thewireline connection 28 via wireline port 64, an optional memoryinterface for communicating with off-chip memory 54, a codec forencoding voice signals from microphone 60 into digital voice signals, akeypad/keyboard interface for generating data from keypad/keyboard 58 inresponse to the actions of a user, a display driver for driving display56, such as by rendering a color video signal, text, graphics, or otherdisplay data, and an audio driver such as an audio amplifier for drivingspeaker 62 and one or more other interfaces, such as for interfacingwith the camera 76 or the other peripheral devices.

Power management circuit (PMU) 95 includes one or more DC-DC converters,voltage regulators, current regulators or other power supplies forsupplying the RF IC 50 and optionally the other components ofcommunication device 10 and/or its peripheral devices with supplyvoltages and or currents (collectively power supply signals) that may berequired to power these devices. Power management circuit 95 can operatefrom one or more batteries, line power, an inductive power received froma remote device, a piezoelectric source that generates power in responseto motion of the integrated circuit and/or from other power sources, notshown. In particular, power management module can selectively supplypower supply signals of different voltages, currents or current limitsor with adjustable voltages, currents or current limits in response topower mode signals received from the RF IC 50. While shown as anoff-chip module, PMU 95 can alternatively be implemented as an on-chipcircuit.

In operation, the dual mode transceiver/GPS receiver 73 generates anoutbound RF signal from outbound data and generates inbound data from aninbound RF signal. Further, processing module 225 is coupled to the dualmode transceiver/GPS receiver 73, and processes position information,generates the outbound data that includes the position information, andreceives the inbound data that optionally includes data from an accesspoint/base station to modify transmit and/or receive parameters inresponse to the position information that was transmitted.

As discussed in conjunction with FIGS. 3 and 4, the communication device10, such as a station set in communication with an access point,wireless telephone set that places and receives wireless calls through awireless telephone network and/or a IP telephone system, via a basestation, access point or other communication portal, operates throughcommand by the processing module 225 to either respond directly tomotion parameter 99 and/or the GPS receiver to control the transmit andreceive characteristics of transceiver 73 or to respond to control data,such as control data 115 received from an access point or other stationto control the transmit and receive characteristics of transceiver 73.For example, if the communication device 10 determines it is moving outof range, it can increase its power level, and steer its antenna beam inthe direction of the access point and/or modify other protocolparameters to compensate for a possible lowering of signal to noiseratio, modify its receiver sensitivity, etc. In addition, positioninformation generated based on GPS position data and/or motion parameter99 can be included in the outbound RF signal sent to a telephone networkto support a 911 call such as an E911 emergency call.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the RF IC 50 is a system on achip integrated circuit that includes at least one processing device.Such a processing device, for instance, processing module 225, may be amicroprocessor, micro-controller, digital signal processor,microcomputer, central processing unit, field programmable gate array,programmable logic device, state machine, logic circuitry, analogcircuitry, digital circuitry, and/or any device that manipulates signals(analog and/or digital) based on operational instructions. Theassociated memory may be a single memory device or a plurality of memorydevices that are either on-chip or off-chip such as memory 54. Such amemory device may be a read-only memory, random access memory, volatilememory, non-volatile memory, static memory, dynamic memory, flashmemory, and/or any device that stores digital information. Note thatwhen the RF IC 50 implements one or more of its functions via a statemachine, analog circuitry, digital circuitry, and/or logic circuitry,the associated memory storing the corresponding operational instructionsfor this circuitry is embedded with the circuitry comprising the statemachine, analog circuitry, digital circuitry, and/or logic circuitry.

In further operation, the RF IC 50 executes operational instructionsthat implement one or more of the applications (real-time ornon-real-time) attributed to communication devices 10, 117 and/or 125 asdiscussed above and in conjunction with FIGS. 1-4.

FIG. 9 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of anintegrated circuit in accordance with the present invention. Inparticular, FIG. 9 presents a communication device 30 that includes manycommon elements of FIG. 8 that are referred to by common referencenumerals. RF IC 70 is similar to RF IC 50 and is capable of any of theapplications, functions and features attributed to RF IC 50 as discussedin conjunction with FIG. 3. However, RF IC 70 includes a separatewireless transceiver 75 for transmitting and receiving RF data 40 and RFvoice signals 42 and further a separate GPS receiver 77 for receivingGPS signals 43.

In operation, the RF IC 70 executes operational instructions thatimplement one or more of the applications (real-time or non-real-time)attributed to communication devices 30, 117 and 125 as discussed above.

FIG. 10 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of anintegrated circuit in accordance with the present invention. Inparticular, FIG. 10 presents a communication device 30 that includesmany common elements of FIG. 9 that are referred to by common referencenumerals. RF IC 70′ is similar to RF IC 70 and is capable of any of theapplications, functions and features attributed to RF ICs 50 and 70 asdiscussed in conjunction with FIGS. 8-9. However, RF IC 70′ operates inconjunction with an off-chip GPS receiver 77′ for receiving GPS signals43.

In operation, the RF IC 70′ executes operational instructions thatimplement one or more of the applications (real-time or non-real-time)attributed to communication devices 10, 30, 117 and 125 as discussedabove.

FIG. 11 is a schematic block diagram of a GPS receiver 210 used togenerate position in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention. In this embodiment, GPS receiver 210, such as GPS receiver77, 77′ or dual mode receiver 73 generates position information 186 thatcan be used by communication devices 10, 30, 30′, 117 and/or 125 tocontrol its own operation or to send to remote devices such as accesspoint 110, a base station, telephone network or system, etc. Inparticular, global positioning system (GPS) receiver 210 receives a GPSsignal and that generates GPS position data 212 based on the GPS signal.GPS receiver 210 generates GPS position data and GPS data quality signal216. In operation, GPS receiver 210 is coupled to recover a plurality ofcoarse/acquisition (C/A) signals and a plurality of navigation messagesfrom received GPS signals 43. The GPS receiver 210 utilizes the C/Asignals and the navigations messages to determine the position of thecommunication device.

While sample and hold module 180 and weighting module 184 are shown asdiscrete modules, in an embodiment of the present invention, thesemodules can also be implemented in hardware, software or firmware usinga processor such as processing module 225 or other processing elements.

In particular, GPS receiver 210 generates one or more clock signals. Theclock signal(s) may also be used by the GPS receiver 210 to determinethe communication device's position. GPS receiver 210 determines a timedelay for at least some of the plurality of C/A signals in accordancewith the at least one clock signal. The GPS receiver calculates adistance to a corresponding plurality of satellites of the at least someof the plurality of C/A signals based on the time delays for the atleast some of the plurality of C/A signals. In other words, for each GPSsignal 43 received, which are received from different satellites, theGPS receiver 210 calculates a time delay with respect to each satellitethat the communication device is receiving a GPS RF signal from, or asubset thereof. For instance, the GPS receiver 210 identifies eachsatellite's signal by its distinct C/A code pattern, then measures thetime delay for each satellite. To do this, the receiver produces anidentical C/A sequence using the same seed number as the satellite. Bylining up the two sequences, the receiver can measure the delay andcalculate the distance to the satellite, called the pseudorange. Notethat overlapping pseudoranges may be represented as curves, which aremodified to yield the probable position.

GPS receiver 210 can calculate the position of the correspondingplurality of satellites based on corresponding navigation messages ofthe plurality of navigation messages. For example, the GPS receiver 210uses the orbital position data of the navigation message to calculatethe satellite's position. The GPS receiver 210 can determine thelocation of the RF IC 50, 70 or 70′ (and therefore communication device10, 30, 30′, 117 or 125) based on the distance of the correspondingplurality of satellites and the position of the corresponding pluralityof satellites. For instance, by knowing the position and the distance ofa satellite, the GPS receiver 210 can determine it's location to besomewhere on the surface of an imaginary sphere centered on thatsatellite and whose radius is the distance to it. When four satellitesare measured simultaneously, the intersection of the four imaginaryspheres reveals the location of the receiver. Often, these spheres willoverlap slightly instead of meeting at one point, so the receiver willyield a mathematically most-probable position that can be output as GPSposition data 212. In addition, GPS receiver 210 can determine theamount of uncertainty in the calculation that is output as the GPS dataquality 216. In the event that the GPS receiver 210 loses lock orotherwise receives insufficient signal from enough satellites togenerate a GPS of even minimal accuracy, a minimum value of the GPS dataquality 216 can be assigned. A transmit indicator 238 is generated whena wireless transceiver section such as a wireless telephone receiver,wireless LAN transceiver or other wire transceiver transmits bygenerating an outbound RF signal from an outbound symbol stream. Aminimum value of the GPS data quality 216 can also be assigned when thetransmit indicator 238 is asserted, and the when the transmit indicatoris deasserted, the calculated GPS data quality can be used as GPS dataquality 216.

It should be noted that the GPS data quality 216 can include a binaryvalue that has a first value that indicates the quality of the GPS datais greater than some minimum quality and a second value that indicatesthat either the transmit indicator 238 has been asserted or that thedata quality is otherwise below some minimum value due to poor signalstrength, loss of satellite reception, etc. Further, the GPS dataquality 216 can be a multi-valued signal, that includes separateindications of signal quality including multiple quality levels, with orwithout a separate transmission indication.

In operation, the GPS position data 212 is weighted with a firstweighting factor when the wireless transceiver section is generating theoutbound RF signal to produce first weighted GPS position data. Inaddition, the GPS position data is weighted with a second weightingfactor when the wireless telephone transceiver section is not generatingthe outbound RF signal to produce second weighted GPS position data,wherein the first weighting factor is less than the second weightingfactor. Position information 186 is generated based on at least one ofthe first and second weighted GPS position data.

In an embodiment, a sample and hold module 180 stores a prior value ofthe GPS position data 212. When the transmit indicator 238 is deassertedand the GPS data quality 216 indicates an acceptable level of accuracy,weight module 184 weights the GPS position data 212 by a weightingfactor that is one or substantially one and the output of the sample andhold module 180 is weighted by a weighting factor that is zero orsubstantially zero. In this case, the position information 186 is equalto or substantially the GPS position data 212. When the transmitindicator 238 is asserted as reflected in a minimum value of GPS dataquality 216 or other indication, the value of the prior GPS positiondata is held—frozen at the last value before the transmit indicator wasasserted or the last position that is known to include accurate positiondata. The weight module 184 weights the GPS position data by a weightingfactor that is zero or substantially zero and the output of the sampleand hold module 180 is weighted by a weighting factor that is one orsubstantially one. In this case, the position information 186 is equalto or substantially the prior GPS position data value held by the sampleand hold module 180.

FIG. 12 is a graphical representation of position information determinedin accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Inparticular, an example of position information 186 is shown on a graph,in map/Cartesian coordinates, of position information that progressesfrom times t₁-t₈, corresponding to sample times or other discreteintervals used to generate and/or update position information 186. Thefirst three times, position data is derived from GPS position data suchas GPS position data 212. In this example, transmit indicator 238 isasserted for times t₄-t₅. At time t₄, the GPS position data may beunreliable or inaccurate. In response to the assertion of the transmitindicator 238, the sample and hold module 180 holds the GPS positiondata 212 from time t₃ and the weighting module adjusts the weighting, sothat the position information 186 for time t₄, and for the remainingduration of the time that transmit indicator 238 is asserted t₅ is equalto the prior GPS position data at time t₃. In this example, at time t₆,the GPS data quality 216 reflects unacceptable data quality, forinstance due to the time required for the GPS receiver 210 to recoverfrom the dropout caused by transmission during the time period t₄-t₅. Inthis case, the sample and hold module 180 continues to holds the GPSposition data 212 from time t₃ and the weighting module retains theweightings from time t₄-t₅ and the position information 186 at time t₆is also equal to the prior GPS position data at time t₃. At time t₇ andt₈, when the transmit indicator 238 is deasserted, and the GPS positiondata again becomes reliable, the GPS position data is used to generatethe position information.

FIG. 13 is a schematic block diagram of a GPS receiver 210 used togenerate position in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention. In this embodiment, GPS receiver 210, such as GPS receiver77, 77′ or dual mode receiver 73 generates position information 186 thatcan be used by communication devices 10, 30, 30′, 117 and/or 125 tocontrol its own operation or to send to remote devices such as accesspoint 110, a base station, telephone network or system, etc. Inparticular, GPS velocity data is generated by difference module 214based on the difference between successive samples of GPS position data212. This GPS velocity data is held by sample and hold module 181 andused to estimate future positions based on the last know position andthe last know velocity in the case of a dropout caused by either theassertion of the transmit indicator 238 or an otherwise unacceptable GPSdata quality 216. In particular, in case of a dropout, prior GPSposition data 216 is held by sample and hold module 180 and used as theinitial condition for integrator 190. Prior GPS velocity data held bysample and hold module 181 is integrated during a dropout to formestimated position data that is weighted with a 1 during a dropout,while the GPS position data is weighted zero to form positioninformation 192. After a dropout ceases and accurate GPS data 212returns, the weighting module weights the GPS position data 212 with a 1and the estimated position data with a zero to form position information192.

It should be noted, that while sample and hold modules 180 and 181,difference module 214, integrator 190 and weighting module 184 are shownas discrete modules these modules can also be implemented in hardware,software or firmware using a processor such as processing module 225 orother processing elements.

FIG. 14 is a graphical representation of position information determinedin accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Inparticular, an example of position information 192 is shown on a graph,in map/Cartesian coordinates, of position information that progressesfrom times t₁-t₈, corresponding to sample times or other discreteintervals used to generate and/or update position information 192. Thefirst three times, position data is derived from GPS position data suchas GPS position data 212. In this example, transmit indicator 238 isasserted for times t₄-t₅. At time t₄, the GPS position data may beunreliable or inaccurate. In response to the assertion of the transmitindicator 238, the sample and hold module 180 holds the GPS positiondata 212 from time t₃ and the sample and hold 181 holds the velocity att₃ to form an estimated velocity vector. The integrator 190 generatesestimated position data at times t₄-t₆ based on the position andvelocity at time at time t₃. The weighting module adjusts the weightingfor time t₄, and for the remaining duration of the time that transmitindicator 238 is asserted and the dropout condition further persists, sothat the estimated position data is weighted and the GPS position data212 is deweighted in determining position information 192. At time t₇and t₈, when the transmit indicator 238 is deasserted and the GPSposition data again becomes reliable, the GPS position data 212 is usedto generate the position information.

FIG. 15 is a schematic block diagram of a GPS receiver 210 used togenerate position and velocity information in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, motion vector202, such as motion parameter 99, and GPS receiver 210, such as GPSreceiver 77, 77′ or dual mode receiver 73 cooperate to generate positioninformation 230 and velocity information 232 that can be used bycommunication devices 10, 30, 30′, 117 and/or 125 to control its ownoperation or to send to remote devices such as access point 110, a basestation, telephone network or system, etc.

GPS receiver 210 generates GPS position data and GPS data quality signal216 that includes or is otherwise based on transmit indicator 238 aspreviously discussed in conjunction with FIGS. 8-11. At the same time,motion vector 202, received from an external device, is integrated byintegrator 204 based on an initial condition 208 that is either its ownprior estimated position data 206 or the prior GPS position data 212. Byadding the motion vector 202 to the prior position, new estimatedposition data 206 can be generated.

In this embodiment, the GPS data quality 216 is compared with a value,such as quality threshold 218 that corresponds to a level of qualitythat is roughly on par with accuracy of position information that can beestimated using the motion vector 202. If the GPS data quality 216compares favorably to the quality threshold, the position information230 is selected by multiplexer 222 as the GPS position data 212 inresponse to the selection signal 215 from comparator 217. When the GPSdata quality 216 compares unfavorably to the quality threshold 218, suchas during a dropout condition and/or a time when transmit indicator 238is asserted, the selection signal 215 from comparator 217 selects theposition information 230 from the estimated position data 206. Theestimated position data 206 is initially generated from the prior (good)value of the GPS position data 212 (delayed by delay 221) and thecurrent motion vector 202. If the dropout condition persists, theintegrator 204 generates new estimated position data 206 based on thecurrent motion vector 202 and the prior estimated position 206, asselected by multiplexer 220 in response to selection signal 215. Whilean integrator 204 is shown in this configuration, low-corner frequencylow-pass filters, integrators with additional filtration and/or otherfilter configurations could likewise be employed. For instance,estimated position data 206 can be generated based on a filtereddifference between current motion vector values and either past GPSposition data 212 or past estimated position data 206, to provide moreaccurate estimates, to reject noise and/or to otherwise smooth theestimated position data 206.

In a similar fashion, velocity information 232 is generated either fromthe motion vector 202 or from the GPS receiver 210. In particular, whenthe GPS data quality 216 compares favorably to quality threshold 218,velocity information 232 is selected from a difference module 214 thatgenerates a velocity from the difference between successive values ofthe GPS position data 212. If however, the GPS data quality 216 comparesunfavorably to the quality threshold 218, the velocity information 232is selected instead from the motion vector 202.

While shown in a schematic block diagram as separate modules, theintegrator 204, difference module 214, comparator 217, and multiplexers220, 222, and 224 can likewise be implemented as part of processingmodule 225 either in hardware, firmware or software.

FIG. 16 is a graphical representation of position information determinedin accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Inparticular, position information 230 is shown that shows a graph, inmap/Cartesian coordinates, of position information that progresses fromtimes t₁-t₈, corresponding to sample times or other discrete intervalsused to generate and/or update position information 230. The first threetimes, position data is derived from GPS position data such as GPSposition data 212. The velocity information, as shown for this interval,is GPS velocity data that is derived by the difference between the GPSposition data. In this example, a GPS signal dropout covers times t₄-t₆due to poor signal quality, the assertion of transmit indicator 238,etc. At time t₄, the GPS position data may be unreliable or inaccurate,so the new position is estimated position data that is generated fromthe prior GPS position data at time t₃, and updated by the currentmotion vector, such as motion vector 202 received from an externaldevice. At times t₅ and t₆, the GPS position data still may beunreliable or inaccurate, so the new position is estimated position datathat is generated from the prior GPS position data (in this case priorestimated positions), updated by the current motion vector. At time t₇and t₈, when the GPS position data again becomes reliable, the GPSposition data is used to generate the position information.

FIG. 17 is a schematic block diagram of a GPS receiver 210 used togenerate position and velocity information in accordance with anotherembodiment of the present invention. In particular, a system is shownthat includes similar elements from FIG. 15 that are referred to bycommon reference numerals. In this embodiment however, motion vector 202and data from the GPS receiver 210 are blended, based on the GPS dataquality 216. In particular, weighting modules 240, 242, and 244 areprovided that form the position information 230, the velocityinformation 232 and the initial condition 208 based on a weightedaverage of the GPS and motion vector produced values, wherein theweighting coefficients are dynamically chosen based on the GPS dataquality 216.

For instance, for the value of the GPS data quality 216 corresponding tothe highest accuracy GPS data and the transmit indicator 238 isdeasserted, the weighting coefficients can be chosen to maximize theweight of the GPS position 212, and to minimize the weight of theestimated position data 206 in calculating the initial condition 208 andthe position information 230 and further to maximize the weight of theGPS velocity data 224, and to minimize the weight of the motion vector202 in calculating the velocity information 232. Further, for the valueof the GPS data quality corresponding to the lowest accuracy GPS data(including a dropout condition, and/or a time when transmit indicator238 is asserted), the weighting coefficients can be chosen to minimizethe weight of the GPS position 212, and to maximize the weight of theestimated position data 206 in calculating the initial condition 208 andthe position information 230 and further to minimize the weight of theGPS velocity data 224, and to maximize the weight of the motion vector202 in calculating the velocity information 232. Also, for intermediatevalues of the GPS data quality 216, intermediate weighting values couldbe used that blend the GPS data with the data derived from the motionvector 202 to generate more robust estimates of these values.

FIG. 18 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of RF transceiver135 and GPS receiver 187 in accordance with the present invention. TheRF transceiver 135, such as transceiver 75 includes an RF transmitter139, and an RF receiver 137. The RF receiver 137 includes a RF front end140, a down conversion module 142 and a receiver processing module 144.The RF transmitter 139 includes a transmitter processing module 146, anup conversion module 148, and a radio transmitter front-end 150.

As shown, the receiver and transmitter are each coupled to an antennathrough an off-chip antenna interface 171 and a diplexer (duplexer) 177,that couples the transmit signal 155 to the antenna to produce outboundRF signal 170 and couples inbound signal 152 to produce received signal153. Alternatively, a transmit/receive switch can be used in place ofdiplexer 177. While a single antenna is represented, the receiver andtransmitter may share a multiple antenna structure that includes two ormore antennas. In another embodiment, the receiver and transmitter mayshare a multiple input multiple output (MIMO) antenna structure,diversity antenna structure, phased array or other controllable antennastructure that includes a plurality of antennas. Each of these antennasmay be fixed, programmable, and antenna array or other antennaconfiguration. Also, the antenna structure of the wireless transceivermay depend on the particular standard(s) to which the wirelesstransceiver is compliant and the applications thereof.

In operation, the transmitter receives outbound data 162 that includesnon-realtime data or real-time data from a host device, such ascommunication device 10 or other source via the transmitter processingmodule 146. The transmitter processing module 146 processes the outbounddata 162 in accordance with a particular wireless communication standardthat can include a cellular data or voice protocol, a WLAN protocol,piconet protocol or other wireless protocol such as IEEE 802.11,Bluetooth, RFID, GSM, CDMA, et cetera) to produce baseband or lowintermediate frequency (IF) transmit (TX) signals 164 that includes anoutbound symbol stream that contains outbound data 162. The baseband orlow IF TX signals 164 may be digital baseband signals (e.g., have a zeroIF) or digital low IF signals, where the low IF typically will be in afrequency range of one hundred kilohertz to a few megahertz. Note thatthe processing performed by the transmitter processing module 146 caninclude, but is not limited to, scrambling, encoding, puncturing,mapping, modulation, and/or digital baseband to IF conversion.

The up conversion module 148 includes a digital-to-analog conversion(DAC) module, a filtering and/or gain module, and a mixing section. TheDAC module converts the baseband or low IF TX signals 164 from thedigital domain to the analog domain. The filtering and/or gain modulefilters and/or adjusts the gain of the analog signals prior to providingit to the mixing section. The mixing section converts the analogbaseband or low IF signals into up-converted signals 166 based on atransmitter local oscillation 168.

The radio transmitter front end 150 includes a power amplifier and mayalso include a transmit filter module. The power amplifier amplifies theup-converted signals 166 to produce outbound RF signals 170, which maybe filtered by the transmitter filter module, if included. The antennastructure transmits the outbound RF signals 170 to a targeted devicesuch as a RF tag, base station, an access point and/or another wirelesscommunication device via an antenna interface 171 coupled to an antennathat provides impedance matching and optional bandpass filtration.

The receiver receives inbound RF signals 152 via the antenna andoff-chip antenna interface 171 that operates to process the inbound RFsignal 152 into received signal 153 for the receiver front-end 140. Ingeneral, antenna interface 171 provides impedance matching of antenna tothe RF front-end 140, optional bandpass filtration of the inbound RFsignal 152 and optionally controls the configuration of the antenna inresponse to one or more control signals 141 generated by processingmodule 225.

The down conversion module 142 includes a mixing section, an analog todigital conversion (ADC) module, and may also include a filtering and/orgain module. The mixing section converts the desired RF signal 154 intoa down converted signal 156 that is based on a receiver localoscillation 158, such as an analog baseband or low IF signal. The ADCmodule converts the analog baseband or low IF signal into a digitalbaseband or low IF signal. The filtering and/or gain module high passand/or low pass filters the digital baseband or low IF signal to producea baseband or low IF signal 156 that includes a inbound symbol stream.Note that the ordering of the ADC module and filtering and/or gainmodule may be switched, such that the filtering and/or gain module is ananalog module.

The receiver processing module 144 processes the baseband or low IFsignal 156 in accordance with a particular wireless communicationstandard that can include a cellular data or voice protocol, a WLANprotocol, piconet protocol or other wireless protocol such as IEEE802.11, Bluetooth, RFID, GSM, CDMA, et cetera) to produce inbound data160 that can include non-realtime data, realtime data motion parameter161, such as motion parameter 99 and control data 115. The processingperformed by the receiver processing module 144 can include, but is notlimited to, digital intermediate frequency to baseband conversion,demodulation, demapping, depuncturing, decoding, and/or descrambling.

GPS receiver 187 includes an RF front-end 140′ and down conversionmodule 142′ that operates in a similar fashion to the modules describedin conjunction with RF receiver 137, however, to receive and convert GPSRF signals 143 into a plurality of down converted GPS signals 159. Notethat the GPS RF signals 143 may be one or more of: an L1 band at 1575.42MHz, which includes a mix of navigation messages, coarse-acquisition(C/A) codes, and/or encryption precision P(Y) codes; an L2 band at1227.60 MHz, which includes P(Y) codes and may also include an L2C code;and/or an L5 band at 1176.45 MHz. Further note that the GPS RF signals143 can include an RF signal from a plurality of satellites (e.g., up to20 different GPS satellites RF signals may be received). GPS processingmodule 144′ operates on the down converted signal 159 to generate GPSdata 163, such as GPS position data 212 and GPS data quality signal 216and/or other GPS data.

Processing module 225 includes circuitry, software and/or firmware thatgenerates transmit indicator 238 that is either used internally forsupplied to GPS processing module 144′, and motion data, such as motiondata 113, position information 186, 192, 230, and/or velocityinformation 232, from motion parameters 161, such as motion vector 202and GPS data 163, such as GPS position data 212. As previouslydescribed, processing module 225 optionally includes this motion data inoutbound data 162 to be transmitted to a remote station such as accesspoint 110, base station, telephone network, etc. In an embodiment of thepresent invention, the processing module 225 includes circuitry asdescribed in conjunction with FIGS. 5-17 and/or other hardware, softwareor firmware.

In addition processing module 225 includes circuitry, software and/orfirmware that generates control signals 141 from either the motion dataor control data, such as control data 115, received in inbound data 160from a remote station such as access point 110. In operation, processingmodule 225 generates control signals 141 to modify the transmit and/orreceiver parameters of the RF transceiver 125 such as the protocolparameters or protocols used by receiver processing module 144 andtransmitter processing module 146, antenna configurations used byantenna interface 171 to set the beam pattern, gain, polarization orother antenna configuration of the antenna, transmit power levels usedby radio transmitter front-end 150 and receiver parameters, such asreceiver sensitivity used by RF front-ends 140 and 140′ of the RFreceiver 137 and the GPS receiver 187.

While shown as a single receiver 137 and a single transceiver 135, itshould be noted that motion parameters 161, and control data 115 can bereceived from separate RF transceiver or separate RF receivers coupledto processing module 225.

In an embodiment of the present invention, processing module 225includes a look-up table, software algorithm, or circuitry thatgenerates the desired control signals 141 based on the particular motiondata or control data. In this fashion, the processing module 225 canoperate adjust a receive parameter based on the receive control signal,such as a receiver sensitivity, a protocol selection, a data rate, apacket length, a data payload length, a coding parameter, a contentionperiod, and/or a back-off parameter. Further, the processing module canoperate to modify an in-air beamforming phase, a diversity antennaselection, an antenna gain, a polarization antenna selection, amulti-input multi-output (MIMO) antenna structure, and/or a single-inputsingle-output (SISO) antenna structure of the antenna 171. In addition,the processing module 225 can operate to adjust a transmit parametersuch as a transmit power, a protocol selection, a data rate, a packetlength, a data payload length, a coding parameter, a contention period,and a back-off parameter.

In addition, processing module 225 can optionally access a look-uptable, algorithm, database or other data structure that includes a listor data sufficient to define one or more restricted areas where eitherthe operation of the communication device 10, 30, 30′, 117 or 125 isprohibited or the communication device 10, 30, 30′, 117 or 125 is notpermitted to transmit. The restricted areas could correspond tohospitals, airplanes in the air, security areas or other restrictedareas. When the position information corresponds to one of theserestricted areas, the RF transceiver 137 or just the RF transmitter 127could be disabled by processing module 225 via one or more control lines141 in accordance with the corresponding restriction in place for thisparticular restricted area.

In an embodiment of the present invention, receiver processing module144, GPS processing module 144′ and transmitter processing module 146can be implemented via use of a microprocessor, micro-controller,digital signal processor, microcomputer, central processing unit, fieldprogrammable gate array, programmable logic device, state machine, logiccircuitry, analog circuitry, digital circuitry, and/or any device thatmanipulates signals (analog and/or digital) based on operationalinstructions. The associated memory may be a single memory device or aplurality of memory devices that are either on-chip or off-chip such asmemory 54. Such a memory device may be a read-only memory, random accessmemory, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, static memory, dynamicmemory, flash memory, and/or any device that stores digital information.Note that when the these processing devices implement one or more oftheir functions via a state machine, analog circuitry, digitalcircuitry, and/or logic circuitry, the associated memory storing thecorresponding operational instructions for this circuitry is embeddedwith the circuitry comprising the state machine, analog circuitry,digital circuitry, and/or logic circuitry.

While the processing module 144, GPS processing module 144′, transmitterprocessing module 146, and processing module 225 are shown separately,it should be understood that these elements could be implementedseparately, together through the operation of one or more sharedprocessing devices or in combination of separate and shared processing.

FIG. 19 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of RF transceiver135′ and with dual mode receiver 137′ in accordance with the presentinvention. In particular, RF transceiver 135′ includes many similarelements of RF transceiver 135 that are referred to by common referencenumerals. However, RF receiver 137′ operates as a dual mode device,combining the functionality of RF receiver 137 and GPS receiver 187 toproduce inbound data/GPS data 160″ as either inbound data 160 thatincludes motion parameters 161 (in a first mode) or GPS data 163 (in asecond mode). In this fashion, RF front end 140″ and down conversionmodule 142″ can be configured based one of the control signals 141 tooperate as either RF front end 140 and down conversion module 142 toreceive and down convert inbound RF signal 153 or as RF front end 140′and down conversion module 142′ to receive and convert inbound GPSsignal 143 as described in conjunction with FIG. 10.

In addition receiver processing module 144″ further includes thefunctionality of receiver processing module 144 and additional GPSprocessing functionality of GPS processing module 144′ to similarlyoperate based on the selected mode of operation.

FIG. 20 is a flow chart of an embodiment of a method in accordance withthe present invention. In particular, a method is presented for use inconjunction with one or more of the functions and features described inconjunction with FIGS. 1-19. In step 400 a GPS signal is received. Instep 402, GPS position data is generated based on the GPS signal. Instep 408, an inbound RF signal is converted into an inbound symbolstream. In step 410 the inbound symbol stream is converted into inbounddata that includes a motion parameter. In step 416, position informationis generated based on at least one of the GPS position data and themotion parameter.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the inbound RF signal isreceived from a vehicle. The motion parameter can include, for instance,a motion vector generated based on a speed of the vehicle and a headingof the vehicle.

In an embodiment, step 416 can generate the position information basedon the motion parameter and prior GPS position data during a start-upcondition of the GPS receiver. Further, step 416 can generate theposition information based on a weighted combination of the GPS positiondata and the motion parameter. In addition, step 400 can operate inaccordance with at least one of a wireless personal area networkprotocol, a wireless local area network protocol and a wireless widearea protocol.

FIG. 21 is a flow chart of an embodiment of a method in accordance withthe present invention. A method is presented that can be used with theother functions and features of the present invention described inconjunction with FIG. 20. In particular, step 400 operates in accordancewith a receiver parameter, and the method further includes step 410 ofadjusting the receiver parameter based on the motion parameter. Further,the receiver parameter can include a receiver sensitivity and step 410can adjust the receiver sensitivity to a first value when the motionparameter compares favorably to a motion threshold and adjust thereceiver sensitivity to a second value when the motion parametercompares unfavorably to the motion threshold.

FIG. 22 is a flow chart of an embodiment of a method in accordance withthe present invention. In particular a method is presented that can beused with the other functions and features of the present inventiondescribed in conjunction with FIG. 20. In step 418, a GPS data qualityis generated. In step 420 the GPS data quality is compared with aquality threshold. When the GPS quality compares unfavorably to thequality threshold, position information is generated based on the motionparameter and prior GPS position data as shown in step 424. When the GPSquality compares favorably to the quality threshold, positioninformation is generated based on the current GPS position data as shownin step 426.

FIG. 23 is a flow chart of an embodiment of a method in accordance withthe present invention. In particular a method is presented that can beused with the other functions and features of the present inventiondescribed in conjunction with FIG. 20. In step 404, outbound data isconverted into an outbound symbol stream. In step 406, an outbound RFsignal is generated from the outbound symbol stream. In step 430,position information is generated based on the motion parameter whengenerating the outbound RF signal.

As may be used herein, the terms “substantially” and “approximately”provides an industry-accepted tolerance for its corresponding termand/or relativity between items. Such an industry-accepted toleranceranges from less than one percent to fifty percent and corresponds to,but is not limited to, component values, integrated circuit processvariations, temperature variations, rise and fall times, and/or thermalnoise. Such relativity between items ranges from a difference of a fewpercent to magnitude differences. As may also be used herein, theterm(s) “coupled to” and/or “coupling” and/or includes direct couplingbetween items and/or indirect coupling between items via an interveningitem (e.g., an item includes, but is not limited to, a component, anelement, a circuit, and/or a module) where, for indirect coupling, theintervening item does not modify the information of a signal but mayadjust its current level, voltage level, and/or power level. As mayfurther be used herein, inferred coupling (i.e., where one element iscoupled to another element by inference) includes direct and indirectcoupling between two items in the same manner as “coupled to”. As mayeven further be used herein, the term “operable to” indicates that anitem includes one or more of power connections, input(s), output(s),etc., to perform one or more its corresponding functions and may furtherinclude inferred coupling to one or more other items. As may stillfurther be used herein, the term “associated with”, includes directand/or indirect coupling of separate items and/or one item beingembedded within another item. As may be used herein, the term “comparesfavorably”, indicates that a comparison between two or more items,signals, etc., provides a desired relationship. For example, when thedesired relationship is that signal 1 has a greater magnitude thansignal 2, a favorable comparison may be achieved when the magnitude ofsignal 1 is greater than that of signal 2 or when the magnitude ofsignal 2 is less than that of signal 1.

The present invention has also been described above with the aid ofmethod steps illustrating the performance of specified functions andrelationships thereof. The boundaries and sequence of these functionalbuilding blocks and method steps have been arbitrarily defined hereinfor convenience of description. Alternate boundaries and sequences canbe defined so long as the specified functions and relationships areappropriately performed. Any such alternate boundaries or sequences arethus within the scope and spirit of the claimed invention.

The present invention has been described above with the aid offunctional building blocks illustrating the performance of certainsignificant functions. The boundaries of these functional buildingblocks have been arbitrarily defined for convenience of description.Alternate boundaries could be defined as long as the certain significantfunctions are appropriately performed. Similarly, flow diagram blocksmay also have been arbitrarily defined herein to illustrate certainsignificant functionality. To the extent used, the flow diagram blockboundaries and sequence could have been defined otherwise and stillperform the certain significant functionality. Such alternatedefinitions of both functional building blocks and flow diagram blocksand sequences are thus within the scope and spirit of the claimedinvention. One of average skill in the art will also recognize that thefunctional building blocks, and other illustrative blocks, modules andcomponents herein, can be implemented as illustrated or by discretecomponents, application specific integrated circuits, processorsexecuting appropriate software and the like or any combination thereof.

1. A circuit comprising: a global positioning system (GPS) receiver thatreceives a GPS signal and that generates GPS position data based on theGPS signal and generates a GPS data quality; a wireless receiver sectioncoupled to convert an inbound RF signal that includes inbound data intoan inbound symbol stream wherein the inbound data is generated by aremote device and wherein the inbound data includes a motion parameterthat is related to the motion of the circuit; a processing modulecoupled to convert the inbound symbol stream into inbound data torecover the motion parameter; a comparator that compares the GPS dataquality to a quality threshold and that generates a selection signalwhen the GPS data quality compares unfavorably to the quality threshold;an integrator that generates an estimated position data based on themotion parameter and prior GPS position data; and a selector, coupled tothe comparator, the GPS receiver and the integrator, that generates theposition information based on the estimated position data in response tothe selection signal.
 2. The circuit of claim of claim 1 wherein theinbound RF signal is received from a vehicle in which the circuit istravelling.
 3. The circuit of claim 2 wherein the motion parameterincludes a motion vector generated based on a speed of the vehicle and aheading of the vehicle.
 4. The circuit of claim 1 wherein the GPSreceiver operates in accordance with a receiver parameter, and whereinthe GPS receiver adjusts the receiver parameter based on the motionparameter.
 5. The circuit of claim 4 wherein the receiver parameterincludes a receiver sensitivity and the GPS receiver adjusts thereceiver sensitivity to a first value when the motion parameter comparesfavorably to a motion threshold and adjusts the receiver sensitivity toa second value when the motion parameter compares unfavorably to themotion threshold.
 6. The circuit of claim 1 wherein the processingmodule generates the position information based on the motion parameterand prior GPS position data during a start-up condition of the GPSreceiver.
 7. The circuit of claim 1 further comprising: a wirelesstransmitter coupled to convert outbound data into an outbound symbolstream and to generate an outbound RF signal from the outbound symbolstream; and wherein the processing module generates the positioninformation based on the motion parameter when the wireless transmitteris generating the outbound RF signal.
 8. The circuit of claim 1 whereinthe processing module generates the position information based on aweighted combination of the GPS position data and the motion parameter.9. The circuit of claim 1 wherein the wireless receiver operates inaccordance with at least one of a wireless personal area networkprotocol, a wireless local area network protocol and a wireless widearea protocol.
 10. A communication device comprising: a globalpositioning system (GPS) receiver that receives a GPS signal and thatgenerates GPS position data based on the GPS signal and furthergenerates a GPS data quality; a wireless personal area network (WPAN)transceiver coupled to convert a first inbound RF signal into firstinbound data and to generate a first outbound RF signal based on firstoutbound data, wherein the inbound data is generated by a remote deviceand wherein the inbound data includes a motion parameter that is relatedto the motion of the communication device; a wireless wide area network(WWAN) transceiver coupled to convert a second inbound RF signal intosecond inbound data and to generate a second outbound RF signal based onsecond outbound data; and a comparator that compares the GPS dataquality to a quality threshold and that generates a selection signalwhen the GPS data quality compares unfavorably to the quality threshold;an integrator that generates an estimated position data based on themotion parameter and prior GPS position data; and a selector, coupled tothe comparator, the GPS receiver and the integrator, that generates theposition information based on the estimated position data in response tothe selection signal.
 11. The communication device of claim of claim 10wherein the first inbound RF signal is received from a vehicle in whichthe communication device is travelling.
 12. The communication device ofclaim 11 wherein the motion parameter includes a motion vector generatedbased on a speed of the vehicle and a heading of the vehicle.
 13. Thecommunication device of claim 10 wherein the GPS receiver operates inaccordance with a receiver parameter, and wherein the GPS receiveradjusts the receiver parameter based on the motion parameter.
 14. Thecommunication device of claim 13 wherein the receiver parameter includesa receiver sensitivity and the GPS receiver adjusts the receiversensitivity to a first value when the motion parameter comparesfavorably to a motion threshold and adjusts the receiver sensitivity toa second value when the motion parameter compares unfavorably to themotion threshold.
 15. The communication device of claim 10 wherein theprocessing module generates the position information based on the motionparameter and prior GPS position data during a start-up condition of theGPS receiver.
 16. The communication device of claim 10 wherein theprocessing module generates the position information based on the motionparameter when the WPAN transmitter is generating the first outbound RFsignal.
 17. The communication device of claim 10 wherein the processingmodule generates the position information based on the motion parameterwhen the WWAN transmitter is generating the second outbound RF signal.18. The communication device of claim 10 wherein the processing modulegenerates the position information based on a weighted combination ofthe GPS position data and the motion parameter.